REVIEW - Angélique Kidjo Arrives with All Her Influences - IMN

REVIEW - Angélique Kidjo Arrives with All Her Influences

Tuesday March 30, 2010

From The Philadelphia Inquirer
By David R. Stampone

Stylistically diverse since the start of her quarter-century international career, Angélique Kidjo is one Afropop star who has never been limited by genre expectations. She made that clear on a rainy Sunday night in Wilmington, giving a Grand Opera House crowd a satisfying, multilingual romp through her repertoire, largely showcasing her 10th studio album, Oyo, out April 6.

Although the energetic Grammy-winning singer incorporates musical elements of her native Benin, Kidjo, 49, has freely fed off pan-African and Euro-American influences all along, whether in composition, collaboration, or choices in covers. Performing since age 6, she emerged in the “Afro-Paris” French scene in the ’80s as an already hybridized artist, thus avoiding critical judgments that she was diluting traditional roots and attempting a Western crossover.

Nor, for that matter, was she encumbered by being seen as an architect of a sub-genre – such as Senegalese mbalax master Youssou N’Dour or the late great Fela Kuti of Nigeria and his James Brown-infused Afro-beat.

On Sunday, Kidjo performed covers off her new album. She and her compact four-piece band grooved through a predictably infectious, Africanized take on Brown’s “Cold Sweat” – in effect, recalling both Fela and the funky Godfather – as well as the message-driven excellence of Curtis Mayfield‘s 1970 solo “Move on Up.” (In general, more inspired takes of this nugget and fewer of Mayfield’s overinterpreted “People Get Ready” would have been welcome.)

And then there was her vocally lush reading of another 1970 tune, “Samba Pa Ti” from Santana‘s landmark Abraxas album. It was originally a young Carlos Santana’s mellow instrumental – an unprecedented piece of soft Latin acid rock defined by its building, sublimely expressive electric guitar – but Kidjo sang his guitar lines to acoustic accompaniment. (Guitarist Dominic James‘ fingering gave the live take more momentum than studio guest Roy Hargrove‘s muted trumpet on Oyo; likewise, the live verve of “Move on Up” somewhat made up for the absence of the prominent guest vocalists, John Legend and Bono, on Oyo.)

Although balanced with fine originals (like the show itself), Kidjo’s new album is a celebration of early influences and a tribute to her education-promoting father’s positive impact. Sunday, she convincingly delivered in the style of a major inspiration, South Africa’s late Miriam Makeba; Kidjo has clearly inherited Makeba’s unofficial title as international ambassador of African song. And Kidjo has worked on causes as an official UNICEF goodwill ambassador since 2002. After bringing enthusiastic audience members on stage to dance, she came back for an encore and closed with her signature “Batonga,” the name of the foundation she created in 2006 to aid African girls in their secondary education.

Baby, I Love You feat. Dianne Reeves	3:10	Angélique Kidjo
Zelie	2:04	Angélique Kidjo
Move On Up feat. John Legend	3:46	Angélique Kidjo
Ae Ae	3:31	Angélique Kidjo

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